Metal connector for reinforcement rods



' May 19, 1970 F. DE BARBUAT DU PLEss'ls 3,512,329

METAL CONNECTOR FOR REINFORCEMENT RODS Filed March 6, 1968 4 FIG. 1

United States Patent F US. Cl. 52-'-665 1 Claim ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A light reinforcement assembled Without any welding and constituted by pairs of rods or wires extending along two different directions lying substantially in a common plane, each pair of rods or wiresextending along one direction being connected with the pairs extending in the other direction by means of preferably cross-shaped metal sheets facing the crossingarea between the two pairs to be considered, the opposite sides of saidsheet, such as the corresponding ends of the cross, being folded pairwise respectivelytowards Opp site sides of. the sheet so as to be wound around and clamp. in position the cooperating elements of the corresponding pair.

Recently invented building materials, such as. those constituted by agglomerated wood particles of fibres or films made of cheap plastic material are theoretically very advantageous for the execution in mass production of temporary structures such asfalse ceilings, double partitions, garden frames and hot houses and the like,

A: light reinforcement constituted by welded rods or wires would be sufficient as a support, oras a reinforcement. Since the size and resistance vary considerably from one case to another,-it.is.not possible to produce such re- .inforcements on an industrial scale. It would be of interest to execute said reinforcements individually, which would-increase considerably their cost price by reason of the necessity of resorting to. skilled workmanship and to expensivepimplementing.

My invention has. for its object to remove said drawback as provided by a metal reinforcement constituted by a trellis-work made of elongated elements crossing one another, the novelty of which reinforcement consists in that said elements, constituted'by .rodsor wires, are distributed in pairs of parallel elements Jeach of which pairs is connected with each of the-pairs ofp'arallel elements cross: ing it by means of an assembling member constituted bya metal sheet provided with at least two pairs of flanges formed along opposite sides of the sheet and bent around a corresponding elongated element, so as to be clamped thereon and to become rigid therewith.

According to a preferred embodiment, each assembling sheet is in the shape of a cross, one pair of opposite flanges being folded over one surface of said assembling sheet so as to hold fast the elements of one of the pairs of elongated elements, while the other pair of opposite flanges is folded over the other surface, so as to hold fast the elements of the other pair of elongated elements.

It is of advantage to provide a connection between the reinforcement and a stationary part or else to distribute under better conditions the material to be reinforced on either side of the reinforcement when'the latter is carried inside a molded structure and to this end the assembling sheets may be provided with a central circular opening or the like through which a clamping bolt may be inserted for instance.

The metal reinforcement thus obtained is cheap, since it is made of elongated elements which may be bought 3,512,329 Patented May 19, 1970 ICC? readily ata reduced price and are then assembled together by simple parts made of metal sheet, adapted to be secured to the elongated elements by mere pincers which ensure the final clamping of the different assembled elements.

I have illustrated by way of example a preferred embodiment of my invention in the accompanying diagrammatic drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a view from above of a metal sheet adapted to form an assembling member.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing said assembling member after the flanges have been folded back, so as to extend around metal rods lying in two orthogonal directions.

FIG. 3 illustrates a section of a reinforcement comprising pairs of parallel elongated elements interconnected with other pairs of elongated elements extending across the first-mentioned pairs, the interconnection being ensured by assembling members facing the crossing areas between cooperating pairs.

As illustrated, the metal reinforcement includes assembling members 2 and elongated elements arranged pairwise and constituted by metal rods or wires such as 8a, 8b and 9a, 9b forming together a trellis-work.

Each assembling member constituted by a metal sheet 2 is advantageously in the shape of a cross, as illustrated in FIG. 1, that is, it includes a central area 3 beyond which are formed four projections or flanges 4, 5, 6 and 7.

In order to assemble two pairs of metal rods 8a, 8b, and 9a, 9b of which the pair 8a, 8b is perpendicular in the present case to the rods 9a, 9b of the other pair, it is suflicient, as illustrated in FIG. 2, to fold first two opposite flanges of the assembling member 2, for instance those designated by the reference numbers 4 and 6 around the two rods 8a, 8b of the first pair, after which the two other opposed flanges 5 and 7 of said member 2 are folded around the two rods of the other pair 9a, 9b. It should be remarked that the flanges 4 and 6 are folded over the lower surface of the member 2, while the flanges 5 and 7 are folded over the upper surface, so as to allow the rods of the two pairs to cross one another Without actually meeting.

The folding of each flange of the member 2 around the corresponding rod is executed by means of pincers in a manner such that at the end of the folding operation, each of the flanges forceably clamps the rod around which it is partly wound. Thus, the member 2 ensures a rigid and very eflicient connection between the four rods 8a, 8b, 9a, 9b and consequently a considerable advantage is obtained by resorting to such an arrangement for the execution. of various reinforcements such as that illustrated in FIG. 3.

The assembling member 2 is also provided in its central area 3 with an opening 10 which allows securing the member 2 through any suitable means such as a bolt to a stationary part.

Since the object of my invention consists in means for producing light reinforcements Without any expensive implementing and without any particular skill, it should be mentioned that it is necessary to use rectilinear rods or wires readily found in the trade, the diameter of which is small so that it is an easy matter to give them the desired shape. The sheet members are shaped before assembling, the flange being folded into U-shape so that it is possible to make the wires slide into the folded flanges and it is thereafter suflicient to clamp said wires inside their flanges by means of suitable pincers. This allows a good squaring.

The laying of parallel pairs of wires or rods allows producing stable and permanent connections. For the execution of such connections, it is sufiicient to make the pair of wires to be connected project beyond the assembling member, so that the connection can then be obtained by means of a sleeve of a suitable.size or shape corresponding to the cross-section and spacing of the wires or rods, or else by means of hooks or the like. If required, it is possible to duplicate the reinforcement by another pair of wires resorting to the same assembling means; a

The use of such -discontinuouszreinforcements is of substantial interest if it is desired to obtain an annular reinforcement. s i

In the example of 2a metal reinforcement illustrated in 'FIG. 3, the pairs of rods 8a, 8b, 9a, 9b cross each other at right angles, but of course it would be possible to form assembling members'2 interconnecting pairs of rods 8a, 8b; 9a, 9b forming with enh othersany desired angle other than a right angle. Whenever the metal reinforcement is to absorb substantial stresses, it would also be possible to superpose two. reinforcements formed by crossed metal rods 3a, 8b, 9a, 9b and to connect the two trellis-works obtained by means of bolts extending through the openings 10 in the superposed assembling membersi. i

The reinforcement described isnof particular interest for reinforcing purposes or else in order to produce a rigid ho'flow part for instance that of the hull of a ship, of a disconnectable swimming pool, a tent, a light shelter or the like article which may be formed partly of plastic material. The reinforcement may;then be embedded completely inside the plastic material which forms for instance a ships hull, for which it acts as a permanent reinforcement incorporated with said hull. In the case of a disconnectabie swimming pool, the metal reinforcement which is also disconnectable may serve 'as a support for one or more yielding sheets of plastic material. In the last-mentioned application, the complete reinforcement carrying the swimming pool may be formed by a plurality of inter-engaging 'sectionssAs a matter ofgfact, it is an easy matter to form hooks at the ends of the'elongated longitudinally extending elements 8a, 8b, 9a, 9b, said hooks being adapted to secure said elongated elements of one section to those of an adjacent section of the reinforcement. I

The particular design of the metal reinforcement which has been described with reference to the accompanying drawings shows the advantage of forming the assembly of metal rods or wires without any welding and therefore without detrimentally acting on the surface treatment to which said wires or rods may be subjected.

As a matter of fact, zinc or cadmium-coated rods are frequently used for light reinforcement. Now, when welding such rods, the superficial coating layer is destroyed in the region of the welds and this leads to points at which the reinforcement may be readily oxidized. The

. 4 Y Y I, assembly of such reinforcements in accordance with my invention may be obtained by resorting to. the sole;tool, constituted by special pincers for the folding or winding of the flanges 4. 7 around the cooperating rods.

The'various elements formingsaid reinforcement may be obtained in mass production and this is chiefly the case for the assembling members) whichcan be cut to the desired shape before use by means of automatically operating machines. When compared to reinforcements formed by elongated elements welded. to one another, my improved above-described reinforcement shows greater yieldingness, since it is possible to provide to some extent a sliding of the elongated elements 8 and 9 with reference to each other inside each assembling member 2 and this allows using the reinforcement for any application in which it is to assume the particular shape, whether bent, rounded or the like. Since some sliding is thus possible inside the assembling members, the reinforcement disclosed is capable of resisting shocks and other stresses much more readily than a welded trelliswork and in fact without any risk of breaking. Furthermore, each assembling member 2 being set or clasped by means of suitable pincers around the cooperating elongated elements &. and 9 during the assembling operation, it is possible to choose elongated elementshaving difierent diameters or cross-sections.

What is claimed is: v

1. A weldless metal reinforcement comprising two substantially coplanar series of pairs of rods, said rods being parallel and in spaced relation ineach pair, said pairs extending along twodifferent directions, and assembling members made of metal sheets facing the crossing areas between any two pairs of rods, each of said sheets being substantially cross-shaped and including a flat central region, and opposite pairs of flanges, said flanges in each pair being wound around the ,rods in a respective pair to encircle and clamp the rods and hold the same in said parallel and spaced relation while the central region of the sheet is exposed, said central region having an opening for attachment to a connecting part.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 712,625 11/1902 We'ber 52-719 1,147,100 7/1915 Rietzel 52665 1,531,224 3/1925 Rogers 52684 X 2,981,386 24/ 1961 Reske et al 52-665 X FOREIGN PATENTS 367,254 2/ 1932 Great Britain.

PRICE C. FAW, JR., Primary Examiner U.S..Cl. X.R. 

